Disney Dream to Castaway Cay, Bahamas
Last month, a friend and I boarded the Disney Dream for a 5 night roundtrip cruise from Fort Lauderdale. There were 2 stops on this cruise: Cozumel, Mexico and Castaway Cay, Bahamas. I already wrote about my experience in Cozumel and will now write about Castaway Cay.
Getting Off the Ship
Getting off the ship was another easy docked pier. A cast member did grab my wheelchair handles to help me get off the ship by pushing me out the gangway ramp.
Castaway Cay is a docked port
We had a great breakfast buffet before leaving the ship, so the gangway was not too busy. There was an option to take an accessible tram from the ship to several stops on the island.
Castaway Cay
Castaway Cay also known as Disney’s Castaway Cay is a private island in the Bahamas and is an exclusive port for Disney cruises. Disney has a 99 year lease through 2096. Only 55 acres of the 1,000 acres is being used with 140 Disney cruise permanent residents who keep the island running daily.
near the entrance of Castaway Cay
There is a bunch of options for people to do at this port. There are bike rentals, trams, run/walk track. There are also port excursions like boating, jet skiing, sailing and more. People can also relax on the beach or rent private cabanas. Character meets are also at select locations. Drinks and food are included except alcohol.
Mount Rushmore
Accessibility
I thought accessibility at Disney’s private island was a bit better than Royal Caribbean’s private island. There was also accessible trams to take guests from where the ship docked to various stops around the island.
accessible tram takes you to the ship and several stops on the island
There were also beach wheelchairs and beach strollers free to use. Getting around on the main areas of Castaway Cay was quite easy as the ground is either paved or tiled. I was happy to see a few grey accessible mats at a few beach entrances. I wish there were more though.
free beach wheelchairs and beach strollers to use
The 2 main restaurants: Cookie’s BBQ and Cookie’s Too BBQ both were easily to wheel around since the ground is tiled. Serenity BBQ has sand everywhere so it was a bit harder to maneuver around in my regular wheelchair.
the main areas and pathways of the island is smooth and easy to get around
Our Day
We never took the accessible tram from the ship to any stop on the island because it was a short walk/stroll. We did take some pictures in front of our docked ship and ran into Pluto walking by for pics with him. We went right by the post office and took pictures with Chip and Dale at the character photo op.
character photo ops around the island at select locations
We then took the accessible tram and went past the first stop at Scuttle’s cove and stopped at the Penguin Plunge stop. We explored a bit and saw Cookie’s Too BBQ and the beach. It was quite busy and we weren’t ready for the included BBQ lunch yet.
walking/strolling on the airstrip from Penguin Plunge to Serenity Bay
Instead of taking the tram from Penguin Plunge to Serenity Bay adult area stop, my friend decided to just push my wheelchair on the smooth air strip. The journey wasn’t too bad at all. Once we got to Serenity Bay, we noticed how quiet it was since it’s an only adults area.
accessible mat at the beach
We checked out the accessible mat at the beach for a bit and then went for our BBQ lunch. That area was full of sand, so my friend just parked me at a table by the entrance and went to get us food. The BBQ chicken and ribs were amazing. Once done, my friend decided to just walk/stroll back to the dock as we got more pictures as we headed back.
Serenity BBQ was hard to get around with all the sand
BBQ chicken and ribs, potato salad were all delicious
Final Thoughts
Cookie’s Too BBQ was easier to get around
My friend and I had a great time at Castaway Cay. We ended up staying about 3.5 hours and really enjoyed our BBQ lunch and seeing some Disney characters in their Bahamian beach wear. It was a relaxing day with great sunny weather and worth to visit again.
more food
